The Beautiful Ones
by HigherMagic
Summary: AU. Twilight/I am Legend Crossover. Bella listened to the alarm being raised and froze with fear. They had rehearsed this so many times, why did fear grip her so tightly now? Because now it was real. I Own Nothing. M for Language.
1. Chapter 1

**The Beautiful Ones**

**Summary: A doctor released a supposed cure for cancer five years ago, leaving vast amount of the human population of North America deceased. The rest, a mere million people, are currently living in small pockets of the United States and Canada, forbidden to be deported or emigrate for fear of spreading the deadly virus. Half starved from the lack of sustenance from human blood, the vampire population of America quickly turns savage on the remaining survivors. Desperate, the humans turn to werewolves to act as patrols and border guards to keep them safe from the vampire threat.**

**Warning: There is major Out of Characterness in this story. None of the vampires feed off of animals, and almost all of them are reduced to the level of extremely smart predators, nothing more. If you decide that you don't like this idea, and then don't read on.**

**Note: This is all written from the third person point of view, and place changes will be marked with a line, while scene changes will be marked with a page breaker of some sort. Thoughts are in italics and emphasis will commonly be in bold or italics, as will Author Notes. Everyone is pretty much the same, like who is with who, except Sam is not the leader of the pack that protects Bella, Jacob is. Sam is in Chicago with the humans there. And obviously with Edward out of the picture Bella is single and very good friends with Jacob. It might become more but I'm an Edward girl so probably not.**

**Now on with the show.**

**Chapter One **

"It has now been five years since the fateful pandemic of North America and still no word has been received from the supposed survivors of the disease, released July 24th by a Dr –"

"Studies have shown that it is possible for blood abnormalities to occur that could make a person immune to the virus' deadly attack. However, the theory has yet to be tested and -."

"Supply trains have been sent out to some of the cities of the United States. We have received no response from them however -."

"Here is a clip of an attack on one of our supply trains, heading for Chicago."

Bella tensed at the clip that followed. Although the blissfully ignorant people of the rest of the world did not know what these creatures were, she did all too well. It was nighttime on the clip, and she could hear the heavy rumble of the supply train as it made its way down the road that nature had reclaimed. The man holding a camera was occasionally swinging it from side to side, emphasizing the truck's movements. There was a sudden flash of pale skin to the right, and the camera swung around to look at it. The two men – the driver and the cameraman – were both beginning to panic; they had heard the rumors.

_No, don't panic. They can smell your fear._

They heard a faint hiss from the left, and the camera shifted just in time to catch a glimpse of one of them.

He was insanely beautiful, just like the others of his kind. His eyes were black, he was thirsty. Extremely thirsty. The one that had provided the distraction jumped up on the right side of the car, smashing through the windows to reach the man holding the video camera. The camera dropped, providing a view of the driver being pulled out by the first vampire, his eyes wide and screams slowly dying on his throat as he struggled to breath through his blood. The only thing that could be seen now were twisting writhing shadows, and all that was heard was the slow slurping noise of a beast feeding.

_How did they get this clip? _Bella wondered, surprisingly calm while watching – or hearing – her fellow humans die.

Her question was answered as a pale hand ghosted in front of the lens. The camera was picked up, and it was the same vampire from before, the one that had taken the driver. His eyes were bright crimson now and blood still lined his jaw and lips from the feeding. He grinned and his companion joined him over his shoulder.

"Thanks for the meal," he purred, his voice just as beautiful and deadly as he was. Then both of the men laughed and the tape abruptly ended. There was a brief silence on the news as the woman announcer paused for a silent moment for the dead, then continued on.

"The disturbing rumor that the survivors of the virus have turned to cannibalism is as of yet unconfirmed, since neither of the two men has been found on file as inhabitants in the United States. However, studies and searches have been launched to find any possible survivors -."

She flicked the television off, sighing. People were so stupid, anyone with half a brain could tell that this was the work of vampires; who else drank blood and was so insanely pale and beautiful? But no, the living world would rather find comfort in their facts, not their fairytales.

A man entered the room she was sitting in and Bella smiled as he sat down next to her. There was one fairy tale that she was glad was true.

"Hey Bells," Jacob, her best friend, said cheerfully, hanging his arm around her shoulders and pulling her to him. "How are you this beautiful morning?"

"Someone's chipper," she replied, a small smile coming to her lips.

"Why shouldn't I be?" He gestured to the now-blank TV screen. "I just found out the location of two more bloodsuckers."

She winced a little. "I really wish you wouldn't call them that, even if it is true. They are simply trying to exist. We all are."

He snorted, looking down at her appraisingly. "You amaze me sometimes, Bella. How can you love those who would kill you as soon as smell you? Who are slowly but surely slaughtering what's left of the population of the US of A?"

"I didn't say I _loved _them. I can simply understand them. Humans have been reduced to this level of savagery, who are we to judge them for simply continuing their existence? Why do we hate them, simply because they are so much more capable of surviving then humans are?"

He snorted. "I hate them because vampires and werewolves don't get along well, if you haven't noticed. They are evil and hateful creatures. They cannot love or feel pain. They don't have emotions or guilt or consciences, so they are not worth understanding. Why are you sitting around, waiting for them to discover and kill you?"

"I am not _waiting around._ I will go to Chicago as soon as I can. I know that there is a larger human populace there, and more werewolves for protection. I simply have to get enough food ready, and then get everyone prepared. Charlie will need his medication as well, and Mike and Lauren and Jessica and everyone will need help. You and your pack too, Jake. You're either with me or against me."

He sighed. "I'm with you Bells." His hands tightened around her waist, pulling her closer. He nuzzled his face into her neck and she smiled, petting his hair.

"Good boy, now go fetch me some grub." He growled a little, pushing her over playfully, then stalked out of the door.

_Werewolves, _she thought with a smile.

It may have interested her to know that, a lot closer to home for her liking; someone was thinking the exact same thing.

* * *

_Werewolves._

The loud snarling thought broke Edward out of his daydreaming, where he sat gazing up at the sky in a vain attempt to control the burning hunger in his throat. He needed to keep a little bit of control tonight; the gain would be so much greater if he did.

Night was falling. Twilight was here.

His brother – if you could call him that – came out of the trees with the same predatory walk all of his kind possessed, both graceful and menacing. He stopped beside Edward, looking down at him with charcoal eyes.

"How close?" Edward asked without looking up at his brother.

"About three miles North. And where there are werewolves…" Jasper didn't bother finishing his sentence; the bright spark in his eyes and his smirk said it all.

Edward's mouth curved into a mimic of the anticipatory smile. "There are humans."

"Exactly. Carlisle has called us all to meet him. There are a fair few of the dogs, almost eight, so the catch must be good for there to be so many to guard."

Edward nodded in agreement, jumping smoothly to his feet. "Let us not waste time then." Jasper agreed enthusiastically in his mind and both vampires took off running towards the rendezvous point.

His other brother met them half-way, his giant muscular frame overshadowing theirs. They acknowledged each other with a few nods and sparse words. Neither of them cared for the lack of affection; they had the hunt on their minds. Already venom pooled in their mouths, making them swallow in excess or spitting it out to freezing points on the ground.

They slowed to a stop at the meeting point, around half a mile east of their target population. They waited impatiently, but none dared to continue on; Carlisle was ruthless in his punishments for letting discipline slide. He insisted that they all went in together, and all came out together, to increase the amount of successful killings. And whatever was attained would be divided among the successful; if you failed you went thirsty. They were like wolves, in a way. The omega – the one who was weakest or the one who didn't catch anything – fed last, and perhaps not at all. It was a cruel system but it ensured success from everyone.

Carlisle and his mate joined the three males soon after. Rosalie and Alice followed about a mile behind, and both Emmett and Jasper let out low purrs at their mates' arrivals. Edward didn't mind the lack of affection towards him; he only lived to continue living. He was complete within himself.

"How successful will we be Alice?"

She hissed, and Edward abruptly realized his mistake. "I apologize," he muttered, not meeting his sister's eyes. She nodded curtly and they all proceeded forward, Edward lagging behind them all, listening and watching.

They stopped as they noticed the fortifications around the town and wore equally amused smirks. Humans always tried such vain attempts at security; but they were pointless really to a predator that could leap them in a single bound or scale them faster than a human could blink.

But there were werewolves here, so caution must be applied.

Carlisle ran his dark red eyes over the walls, noting the haste with which they had been constructed, and the frailties that had resulted. He motioned Edward forward, who joined his father by his side.

_I smell perhaps a dozen humans here, and almost as many wolves. They have not crossed here in some time, but that does not mean that they won't come back soon. I want you to go in and see what you can see, hear what you can hear, and come back to this point in ten minutes. The rest of us will scout the perimeter._

War-like, but an order nonetheless. Edward nodded and ran at the walls, leaping over and catching onto a piece of sacking that made up the top few feet of the wall. He climbed the remaining few feet, vaulting over the top in less than a second.

Once he was successfully over, he opened his mind to all of the inhabitants of the town. He cut off his breathing at the sudden rush of human scent, lest he lose his control and risk upsetting Carlisle.

There were several thought processes going on at once. He walked forward, his mind and senses on the alert for any sudden werewolf appearance. He listened vaguely to the dreaming humans, not staying more than a second. All of them were in four houses in the center of the town. The werewolves were nowhere in sight.

_Something's wrong._

No sooner had the thought struck him than a giant shadow loomed over him from one of the house roofs. He looked up, meeting the gaze of the giant black wolf, unfazed. He hissed, tensing a little as the wolf growled, crouching as well to prepare to attack. They stood like that for some time, Edward listening to the thoughts of the wolf for any sign of attack, before he heard Carlisle's annoyed thoughts break through his barriers.

_Edward, come back here now. Don't let me find yourself in trouble. Make your way back to the rendezvous point. If you are not here within five seconds I am sending in Emmett after you, and your punishment will not be pretty._

Edward winced. Oh if only his mind-reading worked two ways! If he said – loud enough that Carlisle would hear him – that he was in trouble, then the wolf would attack. He could feel the rest of the pack creeping closer. He needed to act fast, or it would be the end for him.

The wolf had taken his advantage of Edward's distraction, though, and launched himself onto the cold marble skin of the vampire, his jaws at his arm. Edward growled and kicked the wolf off over his head, sending the giant animal into a wall of the abandoned housing.

He ran then, towards the wall. He felt the wolves after him, but they had nothing on his speed. He kept his mind on the thoughts of the pack behind him, watching to see if they decided to split off at any one point.

They did. Four of them branched off to the right while the remaining three – the lead black wolf included – remained chasing. Eventually the other two took off to the left and it was just the leader remaining behind him. He heard the leader's thoughts as his own as he directed his pack to begin closing the jaws of the trap. Once Edward reached the wall it would be over.

He suddenly veered to the right, pelting as fast as he could to the other side of the town. The wolves were momentarily taken aback by his sudden movement, but they quickly regrouped and were on the chase again. He felt his family's annoyed thoughts after him, wondering why he wasn't back yet and angry at him. Emmett was about to go in with Jasper.

"Damn it!" he yelled, loud enough for them to hear. "The wolves know I'm here! Run!"

Carlisle's thoughts were hesitant, but eventually he directed the family to return to their domicile. He requested that Edward return if possible, but Edward could tell that Carlisle didn't really care; he was merely a way to make hunting easier, but he was replaceable. Expendable.

Edward growled and kept running, even as the wolves howled, and he suddenly realized that there were more in the vicinity.

Damn it.

* * *

Bella sighed as she pulled the covers around her ears. She could hear the pack making their nightly patrols around the perimeter of the small town of Forks. She could hear the occasional distant howl, followed by a closer one as one of Jacob's pack answered. She half-expected him to come in at any moment saying that they had to go help a brother pack – as they sometimes often did – but he never came. It must not be that bad then.

When the sun rose Bella woke up surprisingly well rested. She got to her feet, trudging downstairs to get breakfast – cereal. Again. Yummy. Most of the fresh food had been used long ago. They had tried growing crops but most of them had been devastated by the wildlife as it occasionally passed by on migrations. The animals had mostly fled long ago, driven by the need to leave. She hadn't understood it then, but she did now; they had been fleeing the vampires.

And now so was she. Eventually. She would leave eventually, once everything was ready. The vampires primarily didn't know that there were any humans here yet. As long as they didn't, they were safe. However, should they suddenly discover that they existed here; she would be ready to leave and lead the others to safety.

There were almost thirty people here, most of them her old classmates. Jessica, Lauren, Mike and Eric, Charlie and Billy and Tyler. The pack, of course, and some more people from the reservation. There was also Angela and Ben and his parents. Her, of course, and then a few older people who had fled here from Victoria, up north. The immunity to the virus seemed to have nothing to do with age. It was odd, how completely inconsistent some illnesses could be.

She was broken out of her reverie by the door opening. "Morning, sunshine," Jacob called cheerfully.

"Hey Jake, get any vampires last night?"

"Almost, sneaky buggers must have smelt us coming and took off."

"I heard howling last night, was everything alright?"

"Yeah. A coven tried to get at the inhabitants of Port Angeles. Unfortunately, it seems that only one of them actually entered the city, and he got away after warning the others. They actually abandoned him to the pack, and he seemed to be smart too. Got away, sneaky leech."

"They just _left him _there to the pack?" she asked, shocked at the callousness of the species.

"Yep. He got away though." Jacob began to grumble, folding his arms.

"Port Angeles isn't far from here, by how they run…" she mused quietly and saw Jacob tense beside her.

"Yeah…you're right. I'll have to send someone out to check in the forest and National Park. It would be a perfect place for a bugger like that to hide."

"Please stop calling him names."

"Fine, but only cause you asked nicely."

She smiled a little. "Thanks, Jake. Now, shall we go see how the food's doing?"

He shrugged. "Sure, I'll be back after I take a shower. I don't know if you've noticed but I reek. I can even tell it myself." He wrinkled his nose and she laughed.

"Okay Jake. Ewww," she wrinkled her nose too, "you do smell. I'll meet you by the old Newton store in half an hour, okay?"

"Sure, sure. See ya Bells."

"Bye."

* * *

Edward limped through the trees. Everything in him hurt. Everything. His head bore several scratches from werewolf claws and teeth, and his arm had been almost completely severed, as well as one of his legs, just below the knee. They were healing already, but it still hurt like hell. He needed to find a little haven to heal, and then find a way to return to his family without them finishing the job.

He had cost them the hunt. He didn't honestly believe that, but they would blame him. He was definitely not the favorite of the group, and that was only because he had no mate, no one to support him or back him up, though he had been Carlisle's oldest and first companion, he had been replaced as soon as Esme came into their coven.

He sat down, leaning against a tree even as he hissed in pain at the movement. He ran his hands through his hair, thinking. He was so thirsty, everything was so much harder to concentrate on when he was thirsty, it wasn't fair. He hadn't asked for this existence, hadn't wanted it. Sometimes he found himself thinking that he would have rather died in 1918.

To have such an existence; ruled only by the wish to find his next meal. A life plagued by desires stronger than his mind could cope with, and on top of that the minds of everyone else, it was maddening. He wondered if he had gone insane at one point, but shook the thought away; he probably wasn't, but there was no real way to tell.

If he had any hope of returning to his family unscathed then he needed to find another hunting ground, another way of appeasement. He needed to find some more humans, then go back and find his family and tell them of their existence before they ripped him apart.

He took a deep breath just as a strong wind came blowing towards him. He froze as he recognized the strong – and more importantly, recent – scent of human.

Perfect.

He would rest, and then the hunt would be on again.

* * *

The crop field was small, but it sustained the lives of the humans of Forks. Bella looked around at the small field of beans, corn and potatoes and sighed with a small smile; none of the animals living around here had been attracted by the scent, and if they had they hadn't come to eat. The food would soon be ready for eating, and they would have fresh vegetables for the first time that year. Good.

She walked around the edge of the field, making sure no insects had gotten to them, and Jacob followed, his large ears flickering everywhere, along with his eyes. Going outside the defensive wall that had been built – especially with Bella – always made him antsy, so he had taken his wolf form just in case, though he highly doubted that any vampire would attack them here; none knew of Forks' existence.

Still, he would never risk hurting Bella if he could. Besides, those bloodsuckers could catch her scent at any moment and come running. One could never take too many chances.

He began to whine as the tension of being out here began to get to him, and Bella rolled her eyes with a slight smile.

"Alright, we'll go, but only if I get a ride!"

Jacob tilted his head to the side and snorted in what could only be called derision, and then did a large wolf-like version of a shrug. Bella grinned at her triumph and hauled herself onto his large body, sitting just behind his shoulders and holding onto his long russet fur. He took off once he was sure she was steady, falling into a graceful yet incredibly fast lope, his impatience increasing as the town came into view.

She laughed at his impatience, scratching between his shoulders. He gave a low growl of pleasure when he stopped, rubbing his head against hers and giving her a big lick across the face.

"Ewww Jake, gross!" She giggled and fell to the floor. He snickered and waited for her to get to her feet. She was about to walk home – him following behind – when a series of howls went up around the town. She paled at the sudden sound. It was a sound that they had rehearsed many times, and she felt fear grip her heart.

They were here.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Beautiful Ones**

**Note: This is a very fast moving story, almost to the point of being flaky and unflowing. Do forgive any such occurrences, they are not intentional. I simply do not wish for this story to continue any longer than necessary, and I don't think it will ever need to be more than ten chapters in total.**

**Now on with the show.**

**Chapter Two**

"He was weak. He cost us the hunt, you have no right to be worrying over him."

Alice hissed a little, frowning at the terse words from their leader. Alice was the closest to Edward out of their coven, yet he was still distant with everyone. They all looked down on him; he was the weakest, but at the same time the most powerful. He had the most useful ability – his mind reading – and his speed was unmatched, even by newborns, and yet no one was very upset that they had had to leave him behind. Except Alice.

"Listen to me, Alice," her mate said, trying to sooth her despite his own irritable disposition; he would do anything for Alice. "Edward will be fine. He can take care of himself. If he ever returns, though, you can guarantee what will happen to him."

Alice nodded, though she didn't want to admit it; if Edward returned to the coven without some form of redemption, then his existence would quickly be ended. Carlisle's patience had begun to run thin on his least favorite companion, and he was looking for any excuse to terminate Edward.

She wished she could see his future, but it was still blank; werewolves were still on the chase obviously. Or perhaps he had found another human sanctuary. She allowed her heart to swell with hope even as her mouth flooded with venom. If Edward had found such a thing, then it would mean good things for all of them.

* * *

Bella listened to the alarm being raised and froze with fear. They had rehearsed this so many times, why did fear grip her so tightly now?

Because now it was real.

She was startled back to reality when Jacob whined, pushing her with his giant head towards the safe fortified buildings in the centre that had been stocked and equipped for this precise eventuality. Bella smiled, stroking Jacob's nose once before running towards the center of town, checking in everyone's houses and making sure that they were all heading that way as well; it was her responsibility, it seemed, to make sure everyone made it through this alive.

A few people joined her on the way to the main buildings and she ushered them inside, counting heads as they went. She was pleased to see some of the populace already gathered in the hall; good, fear had not gripped them too. It was important to stay calm and not get afraid. They could smell fear.

There was one werewolf, fully changed, standing outside the doors to the large building currently holding the survivors of Forks inside, and she recognized the sandy bulk of Seth, the youngest werewolf. He was the last line of defense, and acted as a warning bell should the vampires make it this far. The rest of the pack would take positions around the building and make sure that none made it through, even if they died in the process.

Bella had always felt guilty, asking the werewolves to do this, but it seemed that Jacob and his pack only seemed too happy to do it; they liked the idea of killing and fighting vampires.

Making sure everyone was inside; Bella closed the door, barring it shut with the help of Eric and Mike. She took a moment to catch her breath and flicked the lights on, forcing a smile. Morale was everything now. _If only we had someone extremely charismatic, oh the possibilities! _She thought with a slight smile.

She sat down on a bench against a wall, facing the closed and locked door, and settled down to wait.

* * *

Edward proceeded with caution towards the town. There was no one here to bail him out if he failed, not that his family would have in the first place. He was crouched in the forest, looking down a road where he could see what looked like a school building at a turnoff. He could smell the humans and see at least six werewolves positioned around the building. That's where the humans were.

He could tell from the thoughts of the wolves that there were others scouting the forest, though, so he would have to move quickly, see all that he could see before returning to report to his family. There were at least twenty separate human scents – a goldmine. He smiled in anticipation of the kill and the feeding, but all of his years of discipline held him back; he would not attack until his family was here. He wouldn't. He couldn't.

Couldn't he?

Just a taste…

Even as he took a step forward he heard a loud growl behind him. He whipped around just in time for a giant mass of chocolate-colored fur to come barreling towards him, snapping at his face and tearing at his marble skin with its claws. He snarled and tried to push the wolf off of him, but another had come to join it, this one larger and russet brown. The alpha. He tried to writhe out of the wolf's grasp, but to no avail. He screeched in pain as the alpha's jaws came into contact with his shoulder, almost ripping his newly healed arm off again. He jerked his knee into the other wolf's gut, hearing the breath come out of it with a loud whoosh. He took advantage of the distraction and jumped lithely to his feet, running off into the trees as fast as he could.

He heard a loud howling as the two began the chase. They were faster than the wolves in Port Angeles, - older, he realized - and he barely kept ahead. Pushing himself to greater speeds, he veered south into the National park, running uphill in the hopes of losing them or tiring them out.

Neither happened, but they did slow. Edward listened to their thoughts briefly, and was surprised at the level of depth to them. They were worried that there were more than just Edward, and that similar pursuits were happening, drawing away all of the wolves in twos or threes until only a few were guarding the humans. Although the mental link between the wolves showed no such thing, they still did not wish to take any risks. So, grumbling quietly in their minds, they turned around and began to cover the ground back to Forks in a graceful, silent lope.

He was exhausted, drained both mentally and physically from running without feeding and the continual pressure of other people's thoughts as well as his own. Sometimes he hated his ability, but most of the time it was very useful, and he was thankful for it, because it was the only reason that his coven still kept him around.

_Though that changed very quickly, _he thought sourly.

He was sitting down between some trees on a large boulder, glaring moodily at the sunset over the treetops, when the first wave of scent hit him.

Overcome by thirst as he was, he didn't register the difference between smells. He didn't care that this was not his natural food source, and could only provide a little of the satisfaction that humans so generously provided. He didn't care. He was thirsty.

He felled the mountain lion easily, sucking greedily from the cat's neck, marveling at how the satisfaction from its blood – though less than a human's could offer – was incredible. His thoughts were lucid once more. He could think logically and feel again. His sense of morals was not questioned in the killing of the animal, and he did not have to listen to its thoughts as he swiftly sucked its lifeblood away. He felt a thrill go down his spine at the sudden revelation.

He had always questioned the wisdom of hunting humans. It didn't seem right or morally fair. And for a more practical reason; the humans wouldn't last forever. And then where would they be? They would starve. Perhaps desperation would turn them on the werewolves, make them drink ever their foul-smelling blood. If they could drink from werewolves, why not from animals? It all made sense now; humanity didn't have to die out. They could drink from animals, just as humans eat from animals. Co-exist peacefully.

Of course, convincing everyone else of that was going to be a problem.

* * *

The silence was excruciating, if anything else. It bore down on them, filing the palpable tension in the room. Feeding it, making it grow until it could be cut with a knife. No one moved, no one spoke. The only sound was the occasional annoyed whine of Seth when he couldn't join in the action. Bella couldn't help but smile at the boy's enthusiasm. Such a dangerous game he wished to play.

Suddenly, the door boomed with a loud knock, reverberating around the room. Everyone tensed, with the same thought on their minds. Werewolf or vampire?

The sigh of relief was audible as Jacob's voice came from the other side, cheerful. "Come on out, the mean boogie man is gone!"

_How must we look to them? _Bella thought as she followed everyone out of the gym doors. _We, the weakest link of the three species, hunted by one and protected by the other. How weak we are, to hide in a gym while our friends have to protect us from things that could easily kill us all, if they banded together. I suppose we must be lucky that the largest gathering we have ever heard from is three. If the vampires ever decided to work as one, what trouble would we be in?_

"You alright, Bella?" Jacob's heavy arm draped around her shoulder and she found comfort in his warmth.

"Yeah Jake, I'm fine."

"You don't sound fine."

"I am. Just thinking."

"A dangerous pastime."

"I know. How many were there this time?"

"Just the one. I think it was the same one who got away at Port Angeles. It doesn't make sense though; why would he attack us on his own?"

"Desperation?"

He pursed his lips, thinking, but not entirely convinced. "Perhaps."

She smiled a little after patting him on the shoulder; turning away to make sure everyone else was alright, though she pondered what reasoning a vampire might have for coming to a well- defended town alone.

-x-x-x-

"Come on Jake!" she whined, pulling on his arm towards the main gates.

"Bells! It's too soon to go back out. The leeches could be hiding anywhere in that forest."

"But the food's got to be ready now! Come on! It's this or I take Seth." She grinned, knowing she would have won by threatening to take the younger wolf out with her instead of Jacob; the alpha would never let her or his youngest member out by themselves.

"No," he growled, annoyed, "I'll take you."

She giggled at his obvious reluctance. "We'll be fine. He's probably miles away by now."

* * *

He was by the crop field, but his mind wasn't on the humans. His mind was on the animals that had been attracted by the fresh food.

His arm had healed, thank goodness. It still hurt a little – being almost completely severed twice tended to do that – but there was nothing that could be done, so he didn't dwell on it.

He watched the deer munching at the grasses with hungry eyes, his hands clenched to fists on the ground and his upper lip curled back over his teeth in a silent snarl. When the animal was distracted – by what he didn't know – he pounced, landing on the animal's back and snapping its neck quickly, draining it in seconds. He sighed in appreciation and turned to leave when a sound stopped him.

His head snapped up to look at the opposite side of the ploughed field, and his eyes narrowed as he caught movement. It was by a large animal, but the scent wasn't blowing his way, so he couldn't tell what it was. His first thought was a bear, but he quickly shook it off; bears didn't come this far down into populated land.

He heard a loud snarl and froze. Werewolf. He cursed his carelessness; they would be after him now. He watched as the same wolf emerged from the trees from the night before; the russet alpha. He took a few steps back, not wanting to decrease the distance between him and the giant animal. The wolf looked particularly aggressive today, and as the wind changed he suddenly knew why.

The most delicious scent he had ever experienced permeated his skin, filling his lungs and throat with the burning need for blood. He felt his eyes darkening and took another few steps back, shaking his head to clear it. He didn't want to take more human life; he had found another way. But the blood called to him, even as he fought harder and harder to resist it.

"Jacob? What's wrong?" He heard the soft voice just as a human girl poked her head around the wolf's body. His eyes zeroed in on hers, then slowly traveled to her neck, where her blood flowed tantalizing and strong. He took another few steps back, even as the wolf stepped forward, growling louder. He was so conflicted. He wanted the girl so badly, wanted her blood just as it seemed to call to him, but he didn't want to hurt her, or anyone, or get into a fight with this wolf. He wanted to just exist with the animal blood, and be allowed to exist.

The wolf's thoughts were angry and defensive, and he was ready to attack should Edward do one false move.

So he ran.

And no one followed.

* * *

When Jacob growled she knew something was wrong, immediately.

She had seen the brief flash of movement through the trees and her heart had momentarily stopped, but Jacob had continued onwards, and then stopped, snarling loudly. She frowned, placing a hand on her best friend's shoulder to calm him. He didn't seem to want it though, he shook her off, his eyes fixed forward as he broke through the tree line.

The sight there amazed her.

A vampire was there, but crouched over a deer carcass. For a second she thought he was simply using it to hide, but she saw a smear of blood from his mouth to his jaw from feeding, and she had understood. She frowned in confusion when the vampire simply stared at them, her eyes widening when she met his eyes.

They were gold.

She had never seen them that color before. How strange.

Why wasn't he attacking? Everyone knew that a vampire could take down a werewolf alone, even the alpha. It took two werewolves to effectively take down a vampire.

So why didn't he attack?

His face had looked pained, and afraid. _Afraid of her. _What had he to be afraid of? He couldn't have been more than seventeen when he was changed, though that meant nothing to what he really was, age-wise. She found herself curious about him; the vampire with the messy bronze hair and oddly golden eyes. Was he a good vampire? Was there such a thing? Millions of questions racing about her mind in quick succession, making her dizzy.

_And then he had run away._

Jacob would have followed; she was sure, only her hand on his shoulder stopped him. They both decided that making it back to Forks would be the best thing to do, even if this vampire was simply going to bring more with him, it would be better to be prepared.

"Jacob, do you know what this means?"

He looked over at her, tilting his head. She took that as a sign to continue.

"We have to move to Chicago. They know we're here."

* * *

Alice froze as another vision overtook her. They were starting to get annoying, and they were all in quick succession, but what annoyed her most is that the subject of the visions kept changing his mind so rapidly that it always left her one step behind, dazed.

Jasper continued to look at her, spreading calm towards her as he sensed her annoyance and confusion. He got up from his seat on the old chair in the corner of their room and made his way over. Even when trying to be comforting he was a predator and a soldier. Alice smiled at the thought.

"My love, what are you thinking?" he asked softly, his whisper like a balm on her frayed nerves. She leaned against his strong chest as he wrapped his arms loosely around her. Curse those who say vampires couldn't love.

"It is not what I am thinking, but what he is thinking," she replied cryptically, but he knew what she meant. He sighed, placing feather-light kisses down her neck and shoulder.

"Is he alright?" Though Jasper was sometimes the coldest towards Edward, he cared for his younger-in-some-ways brother. Edward had great potential to be like the next Carlisle and start a coven of his own, if only he would stop with this revolutionary thinking; trying to find some way to co-exist with the humans and the werewolves. It was simply impossible, but he refused to give up. He had to admire him for that, though.

She shrugged, her tiny shoulders rising and falling with the movement. "I have no idea, there are so many different things happening. One moment he's returning to us, claiming he's found another human colony, the next his future completely disappears, then he's burning…" She trailed off as she choked up, not wanting to show weakness in front of her war-like mate.

He shushed her, pulling her closer to him, if that was possible and gave her another light kiss on the temple. "I'm sure he'll be fine. Edward's a smart man; he can figure a lot of things out. Although," he chuckled softly, "I must say if he manages to pull off finding another human colony I shall be very impressed."

"Well he has," she replied smugly, proud of her brother.

"Really?"

She nodded.

"Where?"

She shrugged.

He sighed. "Well I wish him the best of luck."

She smiled. "Me too."

They both sat, basking in the glow of contentment and love that Jasper sent off, meant for those two alone. They were interrupted – much to their annoyance – by Emmett announcing that they were going to go hunting again, and that no one better mess it up. They both hauled themselves off of their bed, heading towards the door. Jasper stopped her before she could leave.

"I love you," he whispered into her ear, even as he pinned her against the door, two desires battling for dominance in his body.

"I know," she whispered back, feeling both his bloodlust and his lust of a different kind.

"He'll be alright," he said firmly, still sensing her trepidation and concern for the missing member of their coven.

"I hope so." She sighed before disappearing out of the door. He followed, smiling slightly.

Carlisle and Esme were at the bottom of the stairs, waiting impatiently for them. Jasper sent a few little waves of calm at them, but they simply glared at him, so he subsided.

"We've found a couple of humans camping in the west side of the National Park, heading towards Olympia after the Port Angeles incident." A small ripple of anger went through all but Jasper and Alice. Anger towards their brother who had 'cost them the hunt'. "So we won't feed well, but it will be enough until a later date. It's a simple move in, move out. There are no werewolves in the vicinity. Let's go."

They all nodded, waiting for Carlisle to leave first. He looked at each of his coven in turn, focusing particularly on Alice and Jasper, before nodding himself and heading out the door, breaking into a run. Esme followed behind, then Emmett and Rosalie, as Alice and Jasper brought up the rear - the alphas in the lead, then the beta, then the rest.

_Like wolves, _thought Jasper bitterly. _We're no better than them._

Who would be the next omega?

* * *

"For Chicago? Are you insane?! Do you know how many vampires there are surrounding Chicago? It's suicide!"

"That's why I'm bringing my big strong werewolf to help me!"

"Bella," he growled, his arms shaking, "please don't do this. We have you all safe here."

"Then what happens when more come?"

"They won't. I won't let them."

"Nice try Jacob, but we're leaving. My final word."

"Damnit Bella! What is wrong with you? Do you have a death wish?"

"Actually…" she paused, praying that she had done this right. He offer would only work if she played out the situation correctly, wind Jacob up just enough. "I have one more option."

"Stay here?" he asked with false hope.

She shook her head. "I want to find that golden-eyed vampire."


	3. Chapter 3

**The Beautiful Ones**

**Note: Thank you all very much for the reviews; they are very much appreciated. I'm not sure if I want to continue this story so that the relationships blossom into something more, or simply end it when all loose ties are met. Your opinion on the matter is welcomed. And 'shooting daggers' is how I say glaring; it's not actually physically throwing blades at someone.**

**I didn't beta this one very well. I'm tired and I think I'm coming down with something. I will edit it later, but not right now. Forgive any mistakes.**

**Now on with the show.**

**Chapter Three**

Jacob stood in shock for a full two minutes, his mouth closing and opening in a rather humorous impersonation of a fish out of water. Bella bit her lips to hold back her laugh, knowing that laughing at him would not help the situation if she intended to get his help.

Finally he spoke;

"Are you insane?! Have you utterly lost your mind?" He was shaking badly now, and Bella wondered briefly if she had pushed him too far. "You cannot go after that leech! He'll kill you!"

"Then why didn't he before? He could have easily gotten past you and ran away with me, but he didn't. _He was in pain, _Jacob. I'm curious. Don't tell me that you aren't."

"Curiosity killed the cat," he muttered, trying to calm his shaking limbs.

"Satisfaction brought him back," she retorted childishly. "Please, Jake," she whined, "I can't take anyone else with me; they wouldn't be able to hold themselves back. I just want to talk to him, that's all."

"No Bella," he replied flatly, his eyes black and unwavering, "you will not go outside these walls without me, and I forbid you to go after that bloodsucker!"

They glared at each other for a long time, each unwilling to sway from their desire and each pleading with the other to understand their side of the argument. Bella understood Jacob's fears, and his hatred of the vampires, but this one was different; she was adamant in that belief.

"I'll see you later, Bells," he muttered, before turning and walking out of the room, leaving Bella to shoot daggers into his back.

* * *

It didn't take long for the scent of that human's – Bella's – blood to clear from his head. The mountain air was doing him good, as well as felling three large grizzlies to satisfy the burning thirst that had built up. Human blood sustained him for much longer than this usually – he had to hunt twice as much now – and it tasted better. Why did he fight his instincts? Continue to live this 'moral' life?

Because it's the right thing to do, of course.

There's the right way, and there's the easy way.

Edward was going to do his very best to choose the right way. Hopefully no more temptation would be sent in his direction.

* * *

Bella waited for night to fall with terrible impatience. Of course, this was probably not the best time to try and run off to find the vampire; werewolves were on high alert at night, because vampires were more easily spotted during the day, especially when it's sunny – but Bella wished to speak to the golden-eyed vampire very badly and to do so she would probably need to travel far, and she wanted to find him once the sun had come up. She'd be traveling all night, and hopefully the wolves wouldn't catch her scent, or if they did they would confuse it with something older; she couldn't be found out otherwise Jacob would kill her.

She hoped she was right about this vampire; about him being different. Of course, his eye color was enough to convince her, and she was so curious about him; she had so many questions that she couldn't wait to ask him. Her heart sped up with just the idea of having a conversation with one of these beautiful killers.

Of course she realized the danger she would be putting herself in. It would be like jumping into crocodile-infested waters, or going near sharks during a feeding frenzy. It would be dangerous and stupid and irresponsible, and there was a very real threat that she wouldn't come back alive.

She couldn't wait.

-x-x-x-

Night fell. Bella slipped out of her house with surprising silence and grace, not even stumbling as she landed from her window. She slung her bag over her shoulder, fitting it comfortably so that she could move without any hindrance. She made her way carefully to the wall, looking out for any werewolf or vampire shapes in the shadows cast by the trees and houses. She slipped through one of the gates that she had purposely left unlocked, breathing a silent sigh of relief when she closed it on the other side.

She suddenly heard a branch snap behind her, and froze, hoping to blend with the scenery. Some hope; she could be smelt if not seen. She heard something like a giant animal coming closer and heard a low half-bark of greeting as she was recognized. She clenched her fists in frustration.

_Please don't let it be Jacob please don't let it be Jacob please don't let it be -._

"Hi Bella."

She relaxed, releasing the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, and turned around to look at the gangly youth who stood leaning against a tree not four feet from her. She smiled a little, knowing she'd been caught.

"Hey Seth."

"Watcha doin'?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Out for a stroll."

He raised an eyebrow and grinned. "Vampire hunting?"

"Is it that obvious?"

He shrugged. "Nah, just that Jacob warned us to not let you out of our sight, and to stop you if you tried to get through the wall. We're posted at every gate watching for you."

"So everyone knows I'm here."

He shook his head, grinning like a madman. "Nope. I figured out how to keep thoughts secret. It's awesome. Only you, I and the wall know our little secret."

"You mean you're letting me go?" she asked, perplexed.

"Sure, why not?"

She gaped at him. "You're serious?"

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be? You're going after a vampire who's different. I'm not stupid; our legends explain vampires with golden eyes. He is still dangerous though Bella, I hope you realize how much so." He watched her carefully. "He could kill you at any second. Any wrong move. That doesn't bother you?"

She shrugged, smiling a little. "No, should it?"

"Have you no sense of self preservation at all?"

"It's all gone into helping everyone else," she replied, her voice laced with bitterness and Seth smiled sympathetically.

"I know the feeling." He sighed. "Have fun being the leech hunter Bells. Hope you don't die!" He gave a little wave, grinning, and sauntered back into the forest, leaving a very surprised and confused Bella staring after him. She shook her head, clearing it, and set off into the forest, smiling a little.

Boys.

* * *

The light breeze felt good on his skin, though he noticed no differences in temperature. He sighed heavily at the warm feeling of a full night's hunt. He hadn't fed this well since…well, since forever. Even when he managed to kill humans for the coven – and he usually did – Carlisle somehow managed to give him less while at the same time maintaining the façade of farness and equality. His thoughts were only sour for his 'father', but he found himself thinking of Alice, his closest companion out of the six. She always treated him the best, even if it was still bad. She actually listened to his advice and ideas sometimes, putting them forward as her own so that everyone would actually heed them. The rest, he knew, had no love for him.

He took a deep breath just as the wind changed and sat bolt upright. That scent! It was here again! The Fates just _loved _to torture him, didn't they? He got to his feet, ready to run, but the wind changed, bringing scents of the forest and the mountains towards him, and he relaxed. It was probably only a remainder of when he had seen her before – he wasn't that far from the spot, and he couldn't hear any thoughts of human or werewolf alike – so he settled back down as the rising sun warmed his icy skin, sending millions of colors dancing out of his diamond-faceted skin.

* * *

Her first thought when she saw him was awe. Awe and wonder.

He was beautiful in the sunlight. His skin was set off by the sun rays so it looked like thousands of diamonds were sparkling just under his skin. Even in the faint light he looked magnificent.

She wondered if he had sensed her coming, or could see her, or could smell her. He looked completely at ease. She had seen him sit up only seconds ago – faster than her eyes could have followed – and he had looked panicked. The same pain had crossed his face as before and she felt a pang of sympathy for him, for whatever had caused that expression to mar his beautiful face, but then he had relaxed when the wind changed. Perhaps it was her scent that was setting him off.

She broke through the trees, not bothering to hide the sound of her passage – he could hear her. She saw him tense and stopped, over twenty meters away, but knew that the distance would be nothing should he decide to attack her. She sat down, pulling the backpack off of her shoulders and set it on the dew-soaked grass beside her. She settled down to wait, unsure of how to proceed. Now that she thought about it she realized how stupid this venture had been; what could she say to him? 'Hello, my name is Bella Swan, your eyes are really strange color, tell me why?' Yeah, that was normal.

She didn't know how long she sat like that; it could have been hours or minutes or years, but eventually she felt eyes on her. She looked up and was startled to find that the vampire had moved towards her and was now sitting a few feet away, staring at her with those beautiful golden eyes. The burned into her. He wore a slightly frustrated expression, his head tilted to one side and his brow furrowed in concentration. She continued to stare at him until he chuckled.

"Breathe, Bella," he whispered, loud enough so that only she would have heard.

She took a startled breath, soothing her burning lungs. She felt her cheeks go red and his jaw tightened, looking at the blood flowing under her skin. He took a deep breath and looked away, closing his eyes and cutting off the influence that they held over her.

"How…" She cleared her throat when he voice came out raspy – a side effect of his intense stares. He turned to face her again. "How do you know my name?"

He chuckled again, and the sound was just as beautiful as the rest of him. It made her knees feel weak and she was glad that she was sitting down; she felt like she could melt right there. "Your werewolf friend mentioned it. Jacob I think his name was." He tapped his temple once with his finger at her blank stare.

"You…you can read minds?"

"Usually." At that his face became frustrated again.

"Usually?" she repeated.

"Not yours." He paused. "I wonder why that is." They sat in silence for a few more minutes, each asking questions of the other.

"Why are your eyes golden?" she finally blurted out when she trusted her brain to make coherent sentences.

He shrugged. "Probably my change in diet. I don't feed off of humans. Well…not anymore."

"But…why?"

"Why?" He paused for a moment, watching her, then murmured, so quietly she wasn't sure she heard it or not; "'_He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you._'" He looked up at her, meeting her eyes. "I do not wish to be a monster anymore. I want to be able to co-exist with humans peacefully. I am sure that it can be done. _'As California goes, so goes the nation.' _I believe that by setting my example – by feeding off of animals and by resisting the delicious call of human blood…" his gaze travelled to her neck, and she shivered involuntarily, "…that I can better this world. Animal blood sustains me, though granted not as much as that of humans, and it can sustain others. It can be done."

He was speaking so passionately about it, Bella couldn't help but stare at him. His face was alight with the belief and the vision that one day the humans and the vampires and the werewolves would exist side by side, without attacks or fear or being hunted. She had to admit, the vision was beautiful.

"But can it be done?" she asked. She suddenly wanted to help this creature, so badly.

"I don't know," he admitted, looking down. "I am only one vampire, and animal blood does not taste nearly as good as that of humans. I think it would be a very hard thing to convince others of my kind to do so, but I'm willing to try."

"Don't you have a coven?" Even though it wasn't hard to believe that he was alone, a wanderer, she remembered what Jacob told her about his being the same vampire at Port Angeles, and that his coven had abandoned him there. She told him this and he winced.

"Yes, my coven has no love for me though I am the second oldest out of them."

"That's terrible."

"That's life, or lack thereof." He laughed bitterly, shaking his head.

"What's your name?" she asked, suddenly realizing her ignorance in that area.

"Edward," he answered, looking up.

"Edward," she repeated, both loving and hating how good the name sounded on her tongue. She shook herself mentally, glad that she was the exception to his mind-reading abilities. _You are not allowed to have feelings for this vampire. _

"Will you tell me about the rest of your family?" she asked, nervous of perhaps pushing him too far. She wanted to touch his skin, examine him for the hidden facets, but was all too aware of what could happen if she made a wrong move, so she didn't.

Apparently the question did trouble him, for he growled low. She shifted back a little, afraid, and his face was instantly repentant. "Forgive me," he murmured, reaching his hand out to hers. His fingers were icy cold and smooth to the touch. Electricity flowed through them and she gasped. He drew his hand away immediately, seeming just as troubled, but continued. "The word 'family' is not accurate. They do not love me, this I know, but I shall tell you of them anyway. There is Alice. She can see the future, aside from where werewolves are concerned; we think it is a survival technique they have evolved. Then there his Jasper, her mate. He can sense and influence emotions. There is Rosalie and Emmett, they are mates and Rosalie is incredibly beautiful, I suppose, and Emmett is strong. Then there is Carlisle and Esme, our leaders. Esme is the most caring person you could ever meet when someone she loves in concerned, and Carlisle is very diplomatic and leader-like. He's good at making decisions."

He stopped, surprised at himself. He wasn't expecting himself to reveal so much to her. He frowned, hoping that she was trustworthy. Perhaps she read something in his eyes, for she leaned forward a little, probably unwittingly. "It's alright, you know," she whispered gently, mimicking his actions only moments before, she reached out and touched his hand to hers. "You can trust me."

"I hope so," he muttered, looking at their interlocked hands. "I can't imagine what would happen if they found out about you."

"What do you mean?"

"My kind is strict about letting people know our secrets, though obviously we haven't been doing a very good job. In fact, the only reason that the Volturi haven't intervened is because the entire vampire population here has gone almost completely feral."

"The Volturi?" she asked.

"Aye, Italian Vampires. They are the closest thing we have to royalty, and the law. They destroy those who threaten to expose our secrets, which is why no one outside of North America fully realizes what's going on here; they kill anyone before the secret gets out. It's not right! Humans should know what potential threats lurk around every corner. There are more vampires than even I would be willing to admit. If only they would revert to animals; the things that could be accomplished." He was lost in his thoughts now, and Bella let him drift. She still couldn't believe that she was touching him. The sensation was amazing. She found herself intoxicated by this visionary, the vampire with the golden eyes. Edward.

His head snapped up, looking towards where she had come. The fading light tinted his pale skin red and lit up his bronze hair so that it was almost gold. She had completely lost track of time; they had been sitting and talking here for the entire day. He got up slowly, a low growl ripping from his lips. Even in anger he was beautiful. He crouched in a distinctly predatory fashion in front of her. _Protecting her. _

She stared in shock as the absolutely gorgeous woman stalked out of the forest, her flaming red hair billowing around her face. She smirked, watching the scene with blood red eyes.

"So, cherie," she began, her voice high and light, "you are protecting your meal? You won't let me join in?" She feigned hurt, placing her hand on her chest and making doe eyes at Edward. He snarled.

"Leave. You won't have her."

She blinked. "So possessive of your meal."

"Not my meal."

"Then why are you stopping me?" She took a few steps forward and he mirrored her when she stepped slightly to the side, keeping himself between her and Bella, who remained stock still on the ground, staring in wonder at their ethereal beauty.

The woman launched herself at Edward, but he was stronger and had anticipated it. He grabbed her by the shoulders and, spinning her around, flung her to the opposite side of the clearing. He leapt over Bella to remain between the two females and growled again.

"Run Bella," he muttered so only she could hear. "I'll cover you. Your dog friend is a mile away. I'll keep her occupied until you meet him. Run!" Bella shook herself, getting to her feet, and she ran as fast as she could, hearing the sounds of fighting behind her.

True enough, she found the giant russet wolf looking around for her. She jumped onto its back and Jacob growled at her. She sighed.

"I know, Jacob, but we have to go, now!" He tilted his head at her, but ran back towards Forks.

When he set her down, Bella looked back towards the forest. She was startled to see a large plume of billowing black smoke rising from the trees, and was beginning to wonder if there had been a forest fire, but Jacob snickered beside her, and she realized that he had transformed back into a human, and pulled on the pair of black sweatpants he wore tied to his calf. He had his arms crossed, smirking up at the forest.

"What does that mean?" she asked.

"It means that a leech is burning somewhere.

Her breath caught. Was it Edward, or that mysterious woman that had attacked her? She found herself hoping beyond hope that it wasn't him. She didn't know why, but she couldn't bear it if he was gone. She already had such an unhealthy connection with this vampire, it wasn't safe for either of them.

She abruptly noticed that Jacob was sowling at her, and she smiled sheepishly.

"I'm in trouble, aren't I?"

He nodded slowly, emphatically.

"Bella, what the Hell were you thinking? You could have died! And," his nose wrinkled, "you smell like leech."

"Yeah? What of it?" She was immediately defensive.

"Where you been all day?" His eyes were probing, searching for the answers to his questions. She was a terrible liar, she hoped he didn't see through her.

"Where were you today?"

Crap.

* * *

Alice was happy today. All day. Nothing could subdue her mood, and Jasper could feel it, and his feelings leaked out, and that in trun made everyone happy. No one understood it. At first they believe that it was the result of feeding, but soon discarded it; her eyes were still dark because the two men hadn't provided much between the six of them.

Jasper cornered her one hour in their bedroom, looking down at her.

"What's gotten you so chipper?" he asked his love. She grinned at him.

"Nothing." She smiled coyly.

"Liar," he whispered.

"Prove it," she replied.

She didn't mind that everyone was whispering, contemplating, brooding. No one could destroy her mood. Edward was coming back.

And he was bringing company.


	4. Chapter 4

**The Beautiful Ones**

**Note: I apologize for the incredibly long wait between updates for this story, and all of my more popular ones. I was feeling much uninspired for anything other than, well, sex. xP Hopefully I can rectify this from now on.**

**Now on with the show.**

**Chapter Four**

Black smoke curled upwards in tendrils, teasing the air with their cloudy tongues before being whisked away by the light breeze, drifting into nothingness in front of his golden irises. He flipped the lighter open and closed, open and closed, like one would see a pyromaniac doing in any action movie. He watched the burning pile closely; he didn't want the nomad coming back, and the only way to ensure that was to make certain that all of her had burned.

A snarl escaped him as he thought of the incident; the wolf had been close to killing him. The only thing that had stopped that russet Alpha was Bella's assurances. He owed the girl his life, several times over, perhaps. And yet all he ever seemed to do was contemplate taking hers. Already endless amounts of scenarios had flashed across his mind, endless ideas as to how to kill her, how satisfying her blood would taste. It would probably be enough of a relief to sustain him for longer than any other human's had.

He sighed; pushing the thoughts away for what seemed like the billionth time, leaning forward to open the lighter again, catching a stray bit of flesh that had escaped the whole of the flame. It lit easily, and was gone within seconds.

Another brooding mood overcame him, as he thought of his next move; he had made a connection with the human. That was undeniable. Isabella Swan. And she seemed equally fascinated in him. Where to go from here? He felt the need, the overwhelming desire, to go back to the Coven and tell them of this new revelation. Feeding on animals, how had none of his kind ever thought of it before? Many of the animals had fled the vampire menace, their prey instincts guiding them to be smarter than the humans, but that didn't mean they had completely vanished off of the face of the Earth. Edward remembered the Coven occasionally passing a family of deer, and yet not giving them a second glance or passing thought, as they had at the time been more focused on their next kill. The driving animalism had blinded them to the better solution, the solution that could help all three of the species; vampires, werewolves and humans alike.

He was interrupted by his reverie when a large snapping sound reached his ears. His head shot up, eyes narrowing as the scent of werewolf came to him. He growled a little, in a defensive crouch in seconds. Couldn't the dogs just leave him alone for one flipping day?

Apparently not.

Instead of the giant russet Alpha, however, a smaller sandy male wolf was what he saw, emerging from the trees. The dappled light fell on his bright coat, making it shine. The werewolf stopped, ears going back once he saw Edward, and a small whine escaped him. It wasn't aggressive or afraid…merely unsure. The young wolf must know he stood no chance in a fight, and yet neither side was running away. Would Edward follow if the werewolf turned tail? He couldn't let the Alpha know that he was still hanging around.

Finally, the uneasy silence was broken when Edward slowly relaxed his posture. Seeing the lack of hostility, Seth eased himself up as well. His ears went forward, thoughts still unsure. It was clear that he wasn't going to phase, but that didn't mean that conversation was entirely out of the question.

_I thought he would be the one that was burning, _Seth was thinking to himself, cocking his head to one side to examine the golden-eyed vampire.

"No; there was a nomad, come this way. She was threatening Bella, so I stopped her."

The wolf's shock came as no surprise. _You can read minds?_ he asked mentally, sitting down on his haunches. His thoughts were overcome with childish delight and excitement, having discovered the mind-reader's abilities. Edward merely smiled a little, and nodded. _That is so cool! Do all vampires have abilities?_

Edward paused for a moment, and then shook his head. "No; we are only given enhanced versions of characteristics we already possessed. Not all of us possess supernatural abilities. What are you doing out here, Seth? Jacob would not be happy to find you talking to me."

_Technically, I haven't said a word,_ Seth replied, his thoughts laced with mischievous superiority, having felt he had one-upped his Alpha. _In fact, I'm merely keeping an eye on my enemy._

Edward sighed regretfully at the word, shaking his head. He cast his golden eyes to the ground; he felt he could let his guard down around the younger wolf, fearing no attack from him. "I don't want vampires and werewolves to be enemies, Seth. I don't want us to constantly have to fight each other, or for vampires to continue slaughtering innocent humans. Even guilty ones, deserving of such a death. I mean…we're just killing each other, until eventually no one is going to be left! I can't stand it! It's inhumane and wrong…" He trailed off, shaking his head again, complete hopelessness consuming him.

_You're quite the visionary,_ Seth remarked, his voice suddenly somber, making him appear a lot older than the sixteen years he possessed. _I would like that too. I mean, it's genetically programmed for me to enjoy the killing of leeches – sorry, vampires._ His thoughts smiled apologetically. Edward nodded his understanding. _But…you're right. Eventually we're all just going to end up killing each other. Jacob's worried. That's why soon, all of Forks is going to be heading to Chicago, to join the larger colony there._

Edward's head snapped up at this new piece of information. "What?" he exclaimed, his eyes widening. No! Bella couldn't leave; she was essential to this vision of his, he was sure of it! If she left, then so did all hopes of him forming an alliance. She was unique, after all, in her ability to block his mind-reading powers, and of course she had close ties with werewolves as well. She was essential, necessary. She couldn't just leave. "When?"

_In a few days. I probably shouldn't have told you…I guess I just think you're not going to give us any trouble. _Seth shrugged, but his undercurrent of mental emotion clearly stated that he expected Edward to challenge that.

The vampire didn't – instead, he opted for a plea. "Listen, Seth…I don't really expect you to agree to this, but I've met Bella and…well, this will sound really stupid, but I need her. I need her, so that I can forge this alliance between werewolves, humans and vampires. I mean…" He hesitated, realizing how much of an idiot he really must sound; begging a lower member of a werewolf pack to allow him to come with them, to Chicago. "If I come with Forks…if I go to Chicago with you, and I'm allowed in as a good vampire, a 'vegetarian'…I can talk with the leaders of the humans there. We can start this alliance, make peace with each other perhaps, and stop the slaughter before it gets even more out of hand than it already has become. We don't need the world knowing about this; we don't need the Volturi coming over and wiping us all out. I need to get to Chicago. Do you think your pack would be willing to allow me to join you?"

Seth listened impassively, the only response really being the occasional flicker of his ears. But he was completely focused on the vampire. Granted, to the young mind what Edward was saying made at least a little sense; addressing the small colony of Forks might be a little dent, but to really start solving the problem, Chicago was the place to go. It was the only larger colony left in the whole of the United States. There were a few others, but Chicago still had broadcasting systems, communications…the news of alliance would become far more widespread if the vampire went there.

And, of course, if Edward went alone as a vampire, he would be killed on the spot by the defending packs.

Finally, after many moments of silent contemplation, Seth sighed lightly. _Listen…vampire,_ he began, realizing he didn't know the male's name. Edward quickly supplied it with a smile. _Edward, then. I would love to help you, honestly. But I'm not in charge here. I mean, I'll totally vouch for you, and so will Bella, but you need to be making this case to Jacob, not me._

"Jacob would kill me on sight! I can't go to Forks without raising that fucking alarm!" he growled in response, gesturing wildly to behind Seth, back where Forks lay, completely unawares. "I'll need your help to even get close, Seth."

_Well…how about this…you come with me, and we'll see what we can do._

* * *

"Bella, answer the question. Where were you today?" Jacob was getting more and more irritable by the minute, his limbs shaking slightly as he glared at his closest friend. Bella swallowed lightly.

"Um…" Finally, she sighed, rolling her eyes a little. "Come on, Jacob, you know where I was. I'm not even going to deny it; I was looking for Edward."

"Who the hell is Edward?"

"He's that golden eyes vampire that we saw the other day," she retorted quickly, hands on her hips as she tried to return his venomous glare with one of her own, with little success. Just as he opened his mouth, undoubtedly to yell at her, she kept speaking, "And before you say anything I don't want to hear another bad word about him, alright? He saved my life today."

_That shut him up, _she thought with a slight smirk of smug victory, seeing Jacob do his hilarious fish-out-of-water impression again. She fought the urge to giggle.

"He…what?"

"This other vampire, a woman, came up to us while we were talking. Yes, Jacob, they are perfectly capable of carrying a conversation without killing anything," she said, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, she wanted to eat me, and Edward defended me. That's her burning right now," she finished, gesturing to the pile of smoke that still lingered in the fading light of dusk.

_At least, I hope that's her burning,_ she added mentally, unable to bear the thought that it was Edward's ashes being created by that fire.

"Bella –." Jacob's stern tone – that which he only really reserved for the younger members of the pack when they had done wrong – was cut short by the loud, blaring alarm bell. Bella's breath caught as her eyes widened. No! Edward's hadn't survived; it was the nomad female, the one who would hunt a human as soon as smell it. Edward was dead, gone; he wouldn't dare come this close to the colony alone.

"Get into the gym, Bella. You know the drill." Jacob's thoughts jarred her out of her mourning thoughts, and she looked up at him. His face was blurry, and she blinked in surprise, only to realize that her eyes were watering. She was near crying for the loss of the visionary, the only real hope for the alliance between their kinds; the only one who had dared to try and breach the gap. There was no hope for them now, why bother trying?

Jacob didn't bother disguising his disgust for her obvious sympathy towards the loss of a leech. He herded her quickly into the Gym, along with the other inhabitants of Forks – those that remained – and barred the doors shut. There was a slight ripping sound as he phased, followed by a loud growl, that grew steadily quieter.

In her grief, she hadn't noticed that Seth, their last line of defense, was missing.

**-x-x-x-**

They were the twenty longest minutes of Bella's life, as she waited with baited breath and silent tears for the 'all-clear'. Something was up; it usually didn't take this long. Something was wrong; she had delayed too long in moving the people to Chicago, and now it was too late. They were all going to die.

"Bella? Bella! Come here!" Jacob's voice suddenly echoed from the other side of the door, followed by a loud knocking that echoed through everything. She stood up on shaky legs, her breathing uneven as she hurried towards the door. Everyone watched her leave, most with curious expressions, as to why she was allowed the freedom of outside and they all had to remain within. What did the werewolves have to show her, that they couldn't show everyone?

The sight that greeted her when she left at once made her heart dance for joy, and fall into blacker despair. All the members of the pack were wolves, and stood in a circle over a crouched figure, one that she immediately recognized as Edward. Most of them were growling, with the exception of Seth, who stood impassively, though his ears were twitching occasionally. Edward's eyes snapped up once she exited the building, having clearly smelled her, and his features broke out into a smile that made her heart skip a few beats. She gasped a little; her memory of him from merely hours before had not done him justice. Hearing her stuttering heart, his smile only widened, before he focused his gaze back on Jacob, who was at the head of the circle, large and imposing, with Quil and Embry flanking him on either side. Jacob was the only one still human, for he needed to call Bella out.

"It appears you have a visitor," he said coldly, glaring at her, as though he blamed her for Edward's existence. In truth, he had heard the entire conversation between Seth and Edward, which had happened in the clearing with the burning vampire, and he was aggravated beyond belief. Mostly with the fact that the decision of the next course of action didn't really lay with him, but with Bella; she was the one everyone would follow, not he.

Bella swallowed uneasily as she stepped forward, standing in front of Edward, who straightened to his full height once she came into proximity. Jacob tensed, seeing how close they were standing – quite a distance for humans, but inconsequential should a vampire decide to attack.

Edward's eyes were alight with happiness as he looked at her, that same easy smile on his face. Already his plans seemed to be coming to life; there was no way that she would deny him, surely.

"Bella, I've come to you, and the pack that protects you," he began, casting his eyes over each of the wolves, ending in Jacob, "with a proposition."

"We are not interested in any offer of yours, leech," Jacob growled before he could stop himself. Bella shot him a glare.

"Jacob, shut up. I want to hear what he has to say," she said, before turning back towards Edward, who had accepted the interruption with patience. That was one thing she preferred about vampires – they were patient, and unlikely to get hotheaded or affected by any situation. Except ones that involved blood, but oh well. "What is your offer?"

"I know that you are planning to resettle in Chicago." At this declaration, an uneasy mumbling spread through the wolves; they didn't like that he knew this. "And you also know that I have every intention of trying to spread my way of life to all vampire kind. I also want humans to be able to live without fear of being hunted and without the necessity of wolves for protection. Therefore, I ask that I be allowed to accompany you to Chicago, so that I might address the leaders of the last large human colonies there. To start this alliance, it is the humans I wish to reach first; the vampires will follow on soon enough. Chicago has broadcasting systems and ways to contact each part of the remainders of human life. Word will spread more quickly, if I am there to make my case."

Bella's eyes widened, as she accepted the magnitude of what he was proposing. "You do realize you're placing yourself in the hands of werewolves and humans?" she asked him, very softly. Edward merely smiled.

"I think that this is one of the only ways; if I go unaccompanied to Chicago, I shall be killed on sight. This way, at least I have a chance."

There was silence as she considered this, which angered Jacob. He could see that she was honestly intending to grant him sanctuary.

"Bella!" he snarled, stepped forward. He turned her around to face him, placing his hands on her shoulders, and shook her violently. "What are you thinking? You cannot accept this leech into our ranks! He will kill us all! You can't fall for such trickery as this; he's dangerous!"

The shaking hurt Bella, and she was wincing in pain, gingerly rubbing her shoulder where his grip had accidently been too hard, when Edward reached out, grabbing a hold of Jacob's forearm. The Alpha tried to flinch away, but Edward held him firm until he calmed down a little. The werewolf was shaking, his pack around him growling, that the leech should even attempt to touch their Alpha!

"I should be more careful, if I were you," Edward said in a calm voice. Only the close few could detect the deadly undertone beneath it. "Right now, you are proving to be more dangerous than I." His eyes were almost completely black; he could have gone feral from bloodlust at any moment, but right now, the mind was winning over his physical need, and Jacob was being uncontrolled. "I, certainly, pose no threat to you, your pack, or those you protect. But if you do not help me, there were be more in coming. You cannot hide in your little valley forever; they shall find you, and when they do, you will die. Besides…" He smirked slightly, releasing his grip on Jacob's arm, who rubbed the forming bruises gingerly. "Wouldn't it be useful to have a mind reader, who doesn't ever sleep? Surely that can only help your dangerous journey to Chicago."

"He does have a point, Jacob," Bella said, suddenly speaking up. She smiled a little; her decision was made. Jacob's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Are you seriously going to allow this…bloodsucker to come with us?"

"Don't call him such derogatory things, Jacob. He has a name."

"I don't care. When you all wake up with your throats cut, don't come crying to me." He didn't leave anyone to question the logic of such an act, before turning around and stalking off, back towards the Gym to let everyone out, and to tell them to pack up and get ready to move to Chicago.

Bella smiled up at Edward, as the rest of the pack dispersed, and only Seth remained. His thoughts were giddy.

_See? Told you they'd go for it! No one can resist leech logic!_

Edward smirked a little, looking at the sandy wolf. "You're right," he said, turning his golden gaze back onto Bella, who flushed a little with the intensity. He cocked his head to one side, moving his eyes to her cheeks, which were near beet red, and then her neck.

He swallowed the excess build-up of venom; that temptation was going to need a lot of getting used to.


	5. Chapter 5

**The Beautiful Ones**

**Note: I apologize for the incredibly long wait between updates for this story. In all honesty I have been suffering so much from writer's block, and Supernatural has totally overrun my mind, so there's little to no room for Twilight, but this chapter wouldn't go away. **

**This chapter wasn't beta'd - I'm sorry for mistakes, and I'm sorry for the overall crappiness of the chapter, but at least it's an update, right?  
**

**Now on with the show.**

**Chapter Five**

It wouldn't come as a surprise to find that no one was exactly thrilled about being accompanied by a vampire to Chicago. Bella only told a few people, but somehow the news was spreading like wildfire and, by the end of the day, everyone had heard about it, and was shouting and screaming and hollering like demented farm animals, protesting against the choices of their leader at allowing a predator into their midst.

Bella sighed heavily, shutting the heavy-duty Blitzkrieg fashioned curtains – they shut out all the light and, in the same way planes wouldn't see the cities, bright lights didn't draw the attention of unwanted guests – in her living room, and turned to face a very smug and satisfied-looking Jacob.

"Not now," she muttered, knowing from the all-too-giddy look on his face that he was fully prepared to launch into an 'I told you so' speech, that would no doubt last several minutes and leave Bella feeling chastised, guilty for wanting to believe that the creatures they had lived in fear of for so long might not be all-bad.

Edward, for his safety and the mental health of the camp, had agreed to be left in the Gym, surrounded at all times by at least two werewolves. He had been surprisingly amiable about the whole thing, merely smiling in a very disconcerting way of his whenever verbal or attempted physical abuse was thrown his way. It was like he'd taken on the attitude of; 'I know I'm stronger, I know I'm faster, and I know that I can kill you all with hardly any effort. Nothing you do will change that, so can you please just leave me alone?' All in all it was a little unnerving, and Bella seemed to be the only one immune to the natural fight-or-flight of humans.

"I'm just saying, Bella, you can't possibly have expected everyone to just go along with this fool-hardy plan. We're not meant to mix, you know; werewolves, humans, vampires. Hell if it weren't for his kind then my kind wouldn't even exist, and you'd keep on being ignorant…and now you're proposing a treaty with them? Why are you helping him?"

"I'm trying to look out for the greater good, Jacob," Bella snapped, finally losing a little bit of her cool as she rounded on her friend. The fact that he was almost one hundred pounds of muscle heavier than her and at least a foot taller seemed insignificant at that moment. "If this works, if we go to Chicago and he manages to get out to the rest of the vampire population that they don't have to kill us all, and it works, can't you even imagine it? We could be free again. We wouldn't _have _to rely on things that are stronger than us to protect us! We don't have to constantly look over our shoulders, knowing that there are creatures of the night lurking and even then trusting _other _creatures of the night to take care of us! You know, when I agreed with you and your Pack to protect us, there were protests too. But we learned and we adapted and we trusted, and you've done your part, you've protected us well. Why can't we extend the same courtesy to vampires?"

"Because they're the things we had to protect you from!" Jacob yelled, a ripple of anger shuddering through him, there and then gone before it could take hold. "They're the reason any of us are here in the first place! They're the reason half of the United States are dead!"

"That was the virus, Jacob!"

Both friends stood in the middle of that tiny room, shaking with barely contained rage. The fact that one of their rages was far more devastating than the other's did nothing to deter either of them. The most frustrating fact was, with how obstinate Bella could be and how everyone was following her orders with the blind faith of sheep, Jacob knew he was fighting a losing battle.

Finally Bella sighed, and all the anger was draining out of her posture, leaving her exhausted. "I need to know if you're with me, Jacob," she said, casting her dark eyes back up to his face, searching, pleading. "Are you with me?"

"Of course I am," he replied without hesitation, but his tone was snappish and angry. "Someone has to look out for you and your stupidity."

She smiled. "Thank you, Jacob. I'm going to go check on Edward. Do you think the pack could go find something for him to eat? He must be thirsty by now."

--

Edward was, in fact, ravenous. The last proper meal he'd had was…way too long ago. He'd lost count of the minutes, the hours, the days. Fact of the matter was, when surrounded by so many human scents, it was hard to keep his wits about him. He was trying – Dear God in Heaven was he trying – to keep his desires under control, but why did they have to put him _here_, where all the humans gathered when they were supposedly under attack? The entire building was saturated with the delicious scent of fear and adrenaline, completely untouched by werewolves unlike the rest of the compound. Edward could hardly keep track of the venom he continually had to swallow down, to prevent him drooling like animal.

"Edward?" His head snapped up, his attention drawn by the soft voice outside the door. _Her voice_. Oh God, don't let her come in…If she came in, with her stupid divine blood, he had no idea what he might do. "The Pack's brought you some blood, if you need it. Can we come in?"

_The Pack. _Yes, he could smell them now. Four of them, and accompanying it…_Blood_. Dirty, tainted by their scents but he could push past that for the sake of sating the burn in his throat. As long as he didn't drink from humans, he was alright with anything they gave him. He was lucky to still be breathing.

They didn't wait for his answer. Instead the doors were thrown open – Edward hissed and drew back at the sudden brightness, the energy efficient bulbs not providing nearly enough illumination for such a bright contrast outside – and a small grey wolf came in, dragging the carcass of a deer between her teeth. She set the animal down, quickly backing to leave the room before the vampire could feed. A wise move – when bloodlust set in it was almost impossible to distinguish between food and friend, and though the werewolves smelled disgusting, the humans in their charge most definitely did not. He waited until the doors closed again before practically diving for the carcass, eager to get to the blood flow before it cooled completely.

It was like drinking ice, and he didn't even care. Ice had no taste, but it burned almost as badly as the fire. It felt good for a split-second before he was overcome with a shaking he could not control. Still he drank, desperate, willing the uneasy feeling that was consuming him to go away, but he couldn't. Once he'd finished he felt like he'd been drugged – perhaps he had, after all, you never know. But he was still cognizant; his sight nor his sense of smell was not impaired. He could stand, could walk, and could move. But he was shaking uncontrollably…almost like he was…_cold._

Impossible, of course, but still worrying.

In fact, it was oddly familiar. This feeling. Not to him, of course, he'd never felt like that before after feeding, but someone he'd known, someone else. Realization struck him with enough force to send him to his knees, although that could have been a direct result of his sudden cold, clammy feeling. _Jasper_. Jasper had felt like this once before, after a hunt that was so successful, the entire Coven had managed to be allowed one human to themselves. Jasper's had been infected with that virus that was meant to cure cancer, the whole freaking reason for their way of life now. Of course, with his empathic abilities everyone in the family had felt like they'd been sick, but Jasper had been the sole sufferer.

This deer had been infected with the same virus. That was the only explanation.

_Could animals be infected?_

He hadn't thought so. Then again, it wasn't meant to kill anything. Maybe it had evolved, just like everything else, to survive off of any host. Maybe Edward was infected himself.

He shot that thought down before it could get any further. _No, it can't survive off of something that's dead._

But he could be a carrier. He could infect others.

For the briefest of instances Bella's face flashed across his mind. The thought that he would be responsible for her death if he infected her made his breath hitch, pain unlike he'd known before – except with the abandonment of his family – washed over him. No. He could not make her sick. He was mistaken, he had to be. There was no way that he was infected, or that he could carry it on. Besides, if Bella weren't immune to it then she'd be dead already, he was certain.

When he got to Chicago he would endeavor to learn as much about this virus as possible. Maybe he could make himself useful there, another incentive to keep him alive while he tried to convince the rest of his kind that the human didn't have to die. After all, if he could detect it then maybe he could help cure it. Better than drug trials.

He'd work out the details in his mind later.

The shaking had just managed to calm down – not a permanent effect, that was good – and he was leaning against the wall, temporarily sated and tired when there was another knock on the door. He sighed once again, turning his head and bracing himself for the influx of light. He could smell who was outside; Jacob, and where Jacob was Bella wasn't far ahead. He followed her everywhere like a good little puppy. He fought the urge to laugh.

"Come on in, Bella," he called, loud enough for her to hear, and heard the way her heart momentarily fluttered in surprise, that he'd known it was her. _Silly humans. _

She pushed open the door, aided by the Alpha werewolf and the small grey who'd brought in Edward's meal. He smiled half-heartedly at her but she merely pinned her ears back and bared her teeth. He fought the urge to laugh. _Silly werewolves._

"How are you feeling?" Bella asked, sitting down a few feet away, though by the look on the Alpha's face even that distance was too far. Edward couldn't blame him; the boy obviously knew what his kind was capable of and was wary. It was intelligent to be wary. It was stupid to be aggressive and possessive. Just because Edward was kicked out of his Coven and was on his own didn't mean he would just roll over and take abuse like a good boy from werewolves. He still had his pride.

Edward shrugged, smiling graciously at Bella. Again her heart stuttered in her chest. _Really? Seriously? _"I'll admit that this is the most welcoming anyone's been to me," he said, half-joking. A snort and muttered few words drew the pair's attention to the Alpha, then back to each other when they both chose to ignore him. He chuckled, making light of the fact that he was unwanted everywhere, except in this strange human girl; "When are we due to leave?"

Jacob tensed, then relaxed, coming up to stand behind Bella, so close that his chin was touching her back. She frowned up at him, but read the 'Don't start' look in his eyes and let it go, looking back with a smile at the vampire. "We're packing up as we speak. We should be able to start on the road by tomorrow night. It's difficult when all the cars are out of gas and we'll have to pull our own wagons."

Edward couldn't help laugh, smirking up at Jacob. "Are your fierce warriors unwilling to become beasts of burden?"

"Fighting becomes a lot more difficult when you've got a bunch of crap strapped to your back," Jacob snapped, his body momentarily tensing again before he relaxed. "Maybe you could magic up some more of your veggie friends and help pull the carts."

"Or…" Edward cocked his head to one side, "we could catch some animals and use them."

"That's a fantastic idea, Edward." Bella grinned widely. Jacob growled. And Edward was just amused at the fact that the Alpha was so pissed off and obviously couldn't do anything about it.

_Silly werewolves._

--

"_So, how exactly do you plan to make these __**wild**__ animals pull a cart?" _Edward was getting really pissed off with the sarcastic voices circling around in his head, amplified with the presence of the three other pack members Jacob had chosen to bring with him; the small sandy one – Seth – and two larger ones; the Beta, a chocolate male named Quil and a slightly smaller brown names Embry. Edward and Jacob took up the lead, the Alpha unwilling to lose sight of the vampire or have him behind any of his Pack.

"Well, animals tend to be pretty submissive when you make them think you're boss," Edward muttered, before suddenly slashing his hand through the air and skidding to a halt, signaling the others to stop as well. His nostrils flared as he looked around, eyes narrowed to focus as he tried to catch another scent, another waft of the one he'd found. A substantial pack of deer – if they managed to catch them all there'd be more than enough to pull the carts.

The thought of deer pulling wagons was a weird one at best. But then again there is Santa Claus.

"This way," he said, shooting off in one direction, almost too fast for the werewolves to see. But they were quick to catch up, and Edward bolted through the trees, muttering instructions on the way; "I smell six, but there could be more. Don't kill them, obviously, make sure they can walk. If we can take down one each it'll be a start."

They burst into the clearing, the sunlight streaming down and sending the sparkling diamond brilliance every which way. The deer looked up, ears pricked, dumb consciences full of alarm, but they were too slow to avoid their inevitable death. Edward barely registered the others' movements as he ran forward, heading immediately for those on the outer perimeter – if anyone was over-zealous they needed to guarantee at least a few animals for labor. His first kill was just that – he landed on the animal wrong and snapped its neck. Edward cursed, but wasted no time and took off from the clearing after the animal's supposed mate, and instead of pouncing on it, grabbed for the head and forced it to the ground. A low growl was enough to force the animal to stop struggling – weird, normally they kept moving until he'd killed them. Perhaps this animal was just a little smarter than the average.

He grabbed the deer by its short antlers, keeping the head low as he hauled it back towards the clearing. There were two other deer there, being wrestled into submission by two of the Pack members, Jacob and Embry the ones still as Wolves, ears cocked for his return.

"Well, we got three. That's something," Edward muttered to himself, taking a hold of the deer Seth was wrestling, and the animal immediately stilled under his touch. Huh. Maybe he was some sort of Animal Whisperer now.

If only that worked for humans, vampires and werewolves.

Sigh.

"Let's get these back to the compound," he said, pulling the animals along with no problem while Quil kept the third in his grasp. Bella was overjoyed at the quarry they'd brought back, and the deer were relatively compliant when Edward was nearby. They managed to make harnesses for the animals, to make sure they were safely and securely strapped to the wagons, but in the meantime until the time came for them to move the deer were being kept in the school's main office. Edward returned to the Gym once again, unwilling to face the confrontation of Jacob forcing him back there. No need to ruffle any feathers, after all.

Edward was being brought one step closer to his goal. That was worth a few muttered words and dark glares.


End file.
